Update: First Day Of Jury Selection Wraps At Porter Trial

This is a voir dire form, or questions Judge Barry Williams asks potential jurors. It was provided to the Maryland State Bar Association and posted on its website. Download This File

Credit: Gray family/WBAL-TV photo
Freddie Gray

Credit: WBAL-TV
Donta Allen, who was briefly in the van with Gray is expected to testify for the defense.

Credit: Associated Press
Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the charges against the six officers in May.

Jury selection will resume Tuesday morning at the trial of Baltimore City Police Officer William Porter

Porter is one of six officers charged in the April death of Freddie Gray, who died one week after he was arrested in West Baltimore.

Prosecutors say Gray had suffered a spinal cord injury as he was being driven in a police van to the Western District precinct.

Gray's death led to two days of rioting and a week long state of emergency in Baltimore City in late April.

Porter is charged with manslaughter, second degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment.

Porter could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He has been free on bail since his arrest.

Jury selection began on Monday with more than 70 prospective jurors questioned by Judge Barry Williams.

As the proceedings began, potential jurors and spectators could hear the chants of protesters outside of the courthouse. Members of the People's Power Assembly have been staging demonstrations all morning.

Williams asked jurors to stand up if they could answer yes to any of his questions.

Thirty-eight prospective jurors stood up when they were asked if they, or any member of their immediate family were either a victim of crime, under investigation by police, ever arrested, or faced pending charges.

Twenty-nine jurors stood up to say they could not serve on a jury for medical or other reasons.

Twenty-five jurors stood up when they were asked if they had strong feelings about any of the charges in the case.

Seven jurors stood up when they were asked if they would give more or less weight to the testimony of a police officer.

Jurors were read a list of 100 names of people who are potential witnesses, or whose names may be mentioned during the trial. One potential juror, a white male, stood up when asked if he knew various prosecutors and police officers. Courthouse sources say that man works for the state's attorney's office.

Judge Williams told the potential jurors that he would expect opening arguments in the case to begin, "in a day or two," and he would expect the trial to conclude no later than December 17.

Officer Porter, dressed in a blue suit, blue shirt and gold tie was taking notes as the jury selection process continued. He also had a bag of cough drops on the defense table which he shared with his lawyers.

Late this morning, the judge began questioning individual jurors in chambers. That questioning continued until around 6 p.m.

Before leaving for the day Williams told the prospective jurors some of them would get notices telling them to return to court Wednesday, while others would get dismissal notices.

Williams is expected to question another 70 to 80 prospective jurors when proceedings resume at 9:30 Tuesday morning.

The court is trying to impanel a jury of 12 people and up to four alternates.

The prosecution and defense each have four preemptive strikes, that they can use for dismissing a potential juror without cause.

University of Maryland School of Law professor Doug Colbert, who watched Monday's proceedings, said he expects the judge to narrow down the list of potential jurors to at least 25-30, and from that pool, pick the final jury.

Colbert told WBAL NewsRadio 1090, he was impressed with the jurors candor before the judge, noting they take their responsibility seriously.

Colbert remained confident a jury could be chosen.

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The 26-year-old Porter was one of three officers who police say checked on Gray while he was in the van.

Prosecutors wanted Porter tried first, because they view him as a material witness in the trials of two other officers, Officer William Goodson, who was the van driver, and Sgt. Alicia White. Both are scheduled to go on trial in January.

At a motions hearing last week, Judge Barry Williams rejected a defense request to sequester the jury. However, the jurors' identity will remain anonymous, with their identities known only to the judge, prosecution and defense attorneys, the defendant and courthouse staff.

Porter's attorneys, Joe Murtha and Gary Proctor, along with the attorneys for the other officers have asked the judge repeatedly to move the trial out of Baltimore City, but the judge has rejected that request.

Judge Williams has said he would revisit that issue if a jury cannot be picked.

According to documents submitted by the defense, Porter's attorneys say their client, "anticipates testifying in this matter."

Porter's defense team is expected to present as many as 25 character witnesses, after Judge Williams last week rejected a prosecution motion to limit the number of character witnesses.

The jury will get to see videos shot by a number of people of Gray's arrest. Porter doesn't appear in the videos, but the prosecution believes they are relevant to the case showing Gray's initial injuries. Judge Williams rejected a defense motion last week to bar the videos from being introduced as evidence.

Last month, Judge Williams imposed a gag order, barring any attorneys or the defendant from talking to reporters about the case.

In September, before the gag order was imposed, Porter granted an interview with the Washington Post, in which he described growing up in the same neighborhood as Gray.

“If I had made different choices, I would have been Freddie Gray,” Porter told the Washington Post.

“If he had made different choices, he could have been an Officer Porter.”

Porter and the other five officers have remained suspended from their jobs without pay while awaiting trial.